Gerald Michael Butts is the senior political adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Background
Butts grew up in the Bridgepourt neighbourhood of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, with three older brothers and one older sister. He is the son of Charles William Butts, a coal miner, and Rita Monica (Yorke) Butts, a nurse and a first-generation Canadian daughter of a Ukrainian father and a Polish mother.
Education
He briefly attended York University to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy
Career
Since November 2015, he has been the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. From 2008 to 2012, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Wildlife Fund Canada, a global conservation organization. He received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English literature from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
In 1999, Butts became a policy director within the Government of Ontario.
He was the Policy Secretary, and later the Principal Secretary, in the office of the then Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, in Toronto. Butts had previously worked with senator Allan MacEachen, and with George Smitherman.
On June 25, 2008, Butts was announced as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Wildlife Fund Canada. He officially took up the position on September 2, 2008, succeeding Mike Russill.
His position at World Wildlife Fund-Canada was filled by David Miller, a former Mayor of Toronto.
Butts has published articles in the Boston Book Review, the Literary Review of Canada, and Gravitas. He has also appeared on television programs such as W5 and TSN" General’ s Office the Record. 2015 Canadian Election
Therefore, he is among the five people with whom Trudeau consults regularly.
He assisted on the vast majority of policies on which Trudeau campaigned.
Previously, during Trudeau"s initial time as Liberal party leader, Butts advised on such decisions and issues as the legalizing of marijuana, the expulsion of the entire Liberal Senate caucus, and Trudeau"s position on the Northern Gateway pipeline.
Politics
On October 16, 2012, Butts left World Wildlife Fund-Canada to become the political advisor to Justin Trudeau. On December 13, 2012, Butts was interviewed by Steve Paikin for The Agenda on the topic of "The Best Way to Clean Up the Environment".